Furnace construction.



No. 661,564. Patented Nov. I3, I900.

M'. m. SUPPES.

FURNACE CONSTRUCTION.

(Application filed Oct. 13, 1899.)

(No Model.)

J WITNESSES: M mm/ ron 54 j 3y i S Cm BXQWAH mg ATTORNEY.

NITED STATES PATENT MAXIMILIAN M. SUPPES, OF ELYRIA, OHIO.

FURNACE CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 661,564. dated November13, 1900.

Application filed October 13, 1899. Serial No. 733,473. \No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAXIMILIAN M. SUPPES, of Elyria in the county ofLorain and State of Ohio, have invented a newand useful Improvement inFurnace Oonstruction,of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being bad to the accom-' panying drawings, whichform a part of this specification.

This invention has relation 10 furnace construction, and moreparticularly to the construction of the side walls of steam-boilerfurnaces, my object being to prevent or minimize the formation ofclinkers on the walls of the fire-box.

As is well known, the formation of clinkers on the walls of a furnacefire-box is a source of great trouble. The Walls require frequentcleaning and in removing the clinkers therefrom are more or lessseriously injured by pieces of the fire-brick being broken out with theclinkers. This necessitates frequent repairs, during which the furnaceand boilers and the apparatus dependent thereon for power must remainidle. If not removed frequently, they lessen the surface area of thegrate and reduce the efficiency of the furnace. In those furnaces whichemploy chain or stoking grates the trouble is very much aggravated,asthe clinkers adhering to the side walls project to such an extent thatwith the movement of the grate the coal thereon is pushed toward thecenter, leaving the grate bare along each side. This allows air to passup through the grate and under the boilers and seriously affects thecombustion.

The fire-brick usually employed in furnaces has a peculiar affinity forclinkers, for the reason that it is very similar in composition to theashes, containing, as it does, from fifty to sixty-five per cent. ofsilica and bases differing from those of the ashes only in respectiveamounts. Consequently if the heat in the furnace be high enough to fusethe ashes it may also fuse or at least soften the fire-brick wallssufficiently to make any ashes or clinkers brought in contact with saidwalls adhere thereto. It is possible that ashes which contain too littlesilica to fuse at the temperature present in the furnace may fuse whencoming in contact with the fire-brick,

which may contain silica in just theright proportion to combine with itto form a fusible silicate. It has been found that the silicates whichare the most easily fused are those which contain from thirty-live tosixty per cent. of silica (depending on the proportion of the respectivebases present) and that if the silica be increased to over sixty percent. a less-fusible silicate is formed. My invention takes advantage ofthese facts by providinga furnace side wall constructed in part of arefractory material which is nearly all silica and which will thereforenot fuse or soften sufficiently at the temperature usually obtainedunder a steam-boiler to unite with the ashes or clinkers. The materialwhich I prefer to employ is sandstone or silica-stone, which contains avery high percentage of silica,.being in fact nearly all silica. Thismaterial stands the heat of the furnace as well as the fire-brick, andits percentage of silica is altogether too high to enable it to fuse andform a silicate.

Inasmuch as the difficulty above referred to is limited to portions ofthe furnace-walls adjacent to the grate, the entire wall need not beconstructed of this material but only so much thereof as is exposed toclinker formation. In the practice of my invention I have thereforeusually provided the usual the brick walls of the furnace with insets ofsandstone extending the full length of the fire-box and from about theupper level of the grate-bars to a point about one foot above the same.I have found the results of this construction to be extremelysatisfactory, as no clinker adhered to the stone, the grate kept fairlycovered with coal, the furnace repairs are reduced to a minimum, and thelabor involved in taking care of the fire is lightened, as well as thecombustion and results from the fire improved.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section of thefire-box of a steam-boiler furnace embodying my invention, and Fig.2 atransverse section of the same.

A designates that portion of the furnacewalls constructed of ordinaryfire-brick, and B the insets, of sandstone. This stone is laid in layerscomposed of stones about two inches 2 i I w I 661.564

thick, nine inches wide, and about one foot in length. These particulardimensions are, however, entirely immaterial to my invention.

0 represents an endless-chain grate.

The sandstone whichl have heretofore used in thepractice of my inventionhas been obtained from quarries situated at Bel-ea, Guyahoga county, inthe State of Ohio; but there are many other sources from which thematerial may be obtained.

I do not Wish to limit myself to the use of my in vent-ion in connectionwith steam-boiler furnaces, as it is equally adapted to other largefurnaces wherein coal is burned on a grate either stationary or movable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim,- and desire to protectby Letters Patcut, is-- l. A steam-boiler or other furnace in which coalis burned on a grate, having those portions of its fire-box which areexposed to clinker formation constructed with an inset or lining of sandor silica stone.

2. A steam-boiler or other furnace in which coal is burned on a grate,having the walls of its fire-box adjacent tothe grate provided with alining composed of sand or silica stone.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

MAXIMILIAN M. SUPPES.

Witnesses:

FRED. W. WATERMAN, D. W. LAWRENCE.

